Foot control for baby carriages



' June l1, 193.5. J. MICHAL 2,004,470

FOOT CONTROL FOR BABY CARRIAGES Filed Aug. 25, 1953 INVENTOR."

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ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 11, 1935 2,004,4vo i FooT CONTROLFRABY CARRIGES, James Michal, Chicago, IIL, assignorteI Storklin" Furniture Co'rpn'ation,Y (llcago,V Ill; 1Application August 25, 193i- SLerialNo.v 886,843 v 1 claim; (or.,fasti-4.7A)"` j My inventiongrelatesffto stabilizingtmeans for baby carriages, and more` particularly to the foot `cont-rol forythe same, and constitutes `an improvement over the controlillustrated.and de,-

5` scribed in myl patent application, Serial No.

622,493,` filed-.July 14,` 1932 and patented-Septem-` ber 1-1,\1934, as Patent No. 1,973,352.f

, 'lfheimain object of the improved control isL to maintainthe actuating pedalsfthereoiin poised or elevated position during thegnormaly position or travel of the baby carriage, in order ,that` Such pedals maynot `be impeded or interieredwithby objectsv or inequalities alongjthepathof thevehicle,.such-asv steps, sidewalk curbs or pavement obstructions. j Y jv i n Another object-,ofv the improvement is to` place the actuating pedals for thejfoot control at normali` `positions which are easily accessible `and maygreadily become familiarized, whereby to enabiathe attendant adoperate the pedals With-` outparticular attention.

i; Anhadditionaltobject of the invention to` construct` the improved control f on lines of.` simplicityand'sofstrong andiirmthattit may operategat allv timeswithout need" of adjustment or repair. 11.

With-.the'gaboveobjects in View and any others that may suggest themselves from the specication and claim to follow, a better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the carriage frame and showing the -novel `control in normal position; i

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section showing the control in elevation;`

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1, also showing the normal position of the control; i t

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3, showing the control in a diierent position; and y Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In the present case, the general chassis structure of the baby carriage is the same as inthe former case, as are the fundamental partsentering into the foot control mechanism.V Thus, the cross strap I4 ofthe carriage `frame receives first the base plate 28, then the` horizontal gear 29 and nally the retainer strap 3I,`the gear carrying the crank 3|Jb whose forward position representsthe normal operation ofthe carriage.

Such operation requires the `rear axle I8 ofthe carriage to be in the forward position shown, lolcating the rear wheels I8 `close behind the front `dering the progress of the same.

wheels .15.1 The Vcormectionsi between ,the crank SUbandl the reargaxle commence with afeonnecting bar 32A lwhich-makesa pivotal connection at its rear ,end withgthe cranial,and'` aty its front with apin 24 .dependingfrom 4the front endofga.- 4lon-,-V gitudinal bar2I slidable in a bearingZLcarried by the frontaaxle I5.l ,Elhe bar `2| is securedfat its rear endbyalrivetxZIa to` thefrear axle, and is also rigidly connected `to thelatterby. diagonal braces 12Ib.Wl'1en the` rear axleisin the Yforwardl.. position shown, the upperynortion of; the rin `i-iiiexes the` medial,V portion |11.v of areal!!` pivoted at Illa to the sides I2 `of the carriageto retract the `brake `,endportions I'Ib ofv thi-j: beam i fromg theiroiitnwheels` It. When lthe cranhis, `'sv/urge 1 around to rearward positiva; it draws ,the

ally-spaced footl pedalsR `and- A are` proyided,

these beingsecured by .rivets 4.inside a fSetoff` sec;- tor plates 26H5 and 26A,A vwhich are journal,ed in al shaft i .21. .the latter bamsy `fast in` opstanding are, fprmedwitha arcuate Series. of, perferations 26h near their4 neripheriesiandmeshing;Q11; Qn-

`positie sides with the teeth of the gear 29. The

sector plates are thus interconnected for travel in opposite directions, and the effect of this relation is to carry the foot pedals` R and A corre-v the carriage was in motion, such pedal was in the way of steps, sidewalk curbs or ground inequalities along the course ofthe vehicle, hin` In designing the improvedcontrol, I have arranged the same with both pedals in elevated position during the Vnon-nal operation of the carriage, and only the tion will not change in my present embodiment from the oldl case, and during thenormal operation of the carriage this pedal appears as in Fig. 2, in poised position, its sector p1ate'26A being swung` to project in a lefthand direction from the Support 28A apparent in Fig. 2. With the i pedal A considered in thisposition, itwill be seen that the pedal R while almost in a similar relative position, is actually differently positioned relative to its sector plate 2BR. This position is distinguished from. the one in my previous case by the fact that in such case the pedal R would appear deflected downwardly, whereas in the present case it appears poised.

The connection of the pedal R whereby it as- Sumes the position just mentioned is made by meansof a post 35 projecting inwardly from the sector plate 2BR and having a terminal head 35A. This post is located near the left hand edge of the plate as viewed in the drawing and suggested by the left-hand rivet 26a. in my previous case. The shank of the pedal R is freely pivoted on the post 35; and the latter receives a torsion spring 36 whose ends are secured in the head of the post and pedal shank respectively and with a tension to swing the latter in a clockwise direction. Thus, the pedal is normally swung with its shank resting against the right-hand corner of the strap 3| as a limit,A as clearly shown in Fig. 3. However, the pedal may be depressed against the tension of the spring to the position indicated by dotted lines in such figure, in which event its shank will meet a pin 31 near the opposite edge of the sector plate as a limit, such pin having the relative position ofA the right-hand rivet 26a in my previous case.

In the operation of the new development, the parts are considered in the positions shown as the carriage is normally operated. However, when .the carriage is to be locked in stationary position, the pedal A is depressed and secures the desired result as in the previous case. However, this action in causing the sector plate 2BR to swing toward the left has lowered the pin 31 thereof to the extent of meeting the shank of the pedal R, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

The parts of the control remain inthe positions just described, as long as the carriage is locked. However, when the brakes are desired to be released, the attendant steps on the pedal R, which procures the right-hand swing of the sector plate 26B. through the fact that the pedal is in positive connection'with such sector plate by the imping ing action of its shank on the pin 31. Thus, the

reverse action of the control is procured, restoring the carriage to normal position. Now, the pedal R is down while the opposite portion of its shank is relatively high above the corner of the strap from which it has swung, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. At the same time, the pedal is being held under the tension of its spring 35. Now, when the foot is removed from the pedal, the spring serves to swing the shank thereof in a clockwise direction without affecting the position of the sector plate 25B, so that the pedal again assumes the position of Figs. 2 and 3, remaining poised during the operation of the carriage and duringrthe locked position thereof, only lto be depressed momentarily while the brakes are released.

It Will be seen that, by means of the improved control, both actuating pedals are in poised position during the normal operation of the carriage, and are therefore out of the way of any impediment or projection along the course of travel. Yet, the actuation of the pedals has not been changed from the previous instance as far as the attendants attention is concerned, as the pedals have the same functions as heretofore. Finally, it will be appreciated that the improve-- ment is extremely simple, does not take up extra room and is of a nature to operate efficiently and dependably for an indefinite period without any attention or repair.

I claim: i

A carriage having an axle, a gearing for shifting the latter forth and back, dual foot levers depressible individually for the control of said gearing to procure the respective aXle movements, oppositely-swingable sectors operated by the gearing and carrying the respective 1evers, the action of the sectors raising either lever' when the other is depressed, means iixedly attaching one lever and pivotally attaching the other lever to the sectors relating thereto, and a torsion spring coiled :about the pivot and connected with its ends to said other lever and its sector respectively, the spring automatically raising the related lever fromfthe depressed position when such lever is released.

JAMES MICHAL. 

